Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Few days ago we got little bit of snow...not much...just enough to "paint" the landscape. Maybe it'll survive until Christmas. The following print is called "Tea house at Koishikawa The morning after a snowfall".It's made by Hokusai Katsushika (1760-1849). I hope you'll like it.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

On every December 15 tea-producing countries across the World observe International Tea day to draw attention of governments and citizens on the impacts of tea trade on workers, small growers, consumers and the industry.The International Tea day has been observed since 2005.

Friday, December 7, 2007

Room puppets were toys of Japanese lords and rich merchants during the Edo period. The tea-serving puppet (Chahakobi Ningyo) was designed to bring tea to guests. It was used as kind of encouragement to get the conversation going. The host places a tea cup on the tray held by the doll and that way activates its mechanism to move it forward. The puppet stops when the guest picks up the tea cup, lifting the weight from the tray. When the cup is put back on the tray, the doll turns around and walks back to its starting position.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Tea for three is a painting by Henri Matisse (December 31, 1869 – November 3, 1954).He was a French painter, sculptor and lithographer. This painting is now kept in the Hermitage in Sankt Peterburg, Russia.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Preparation:1. Pulverize half of the tea leaves with a grinder or a rolling pin.2. Brew the rest with 1/2 cup of water for three minutes, then cool to lukewarm.3. Mix the flour and as much brewed tea as kneaded to make a dough. Knead well then make it into the shape of a cigar and press it flat, then roll it into a rectangular shape. Cit into quarters.4. Heat the oil and pan fry one or two until lightly browned, then quickly put them on a plate and fry the rest. Sprinkle them with the rest of the tea leaves and the sugar and roll each one loosely.5. Cut each of them on an angle into one inch (about 2,5 cm) pieces and serve.